4 ms·
The heat is spread out to a much larger volume. Heat engines are most efficient when the temperature difference between the hot and cold side is high, so you n
by Tade0 2mo ago
The heat is spread out to a much larger volume.
Heat engines are most efficient when the temperature difference between the hot and cold side is high, so you need to keep it that way to extract energy.
A nuclear power plant achieves this by converting extreme heat from a small, but very angry rock to a huge lake of slightly warmer water.
There exist reactor designs which operate at higher temperatures, thus increasing efficiency, but they're complicated as everything needs to be more heat-resistant.
- noduerme 2mo agookay but to maybe beat a dead horse, if you have these enormous cooling towers spewing out steam, is the steam coming out the top of those just not economically viable to use to run smaller generators or something?
- inigyou 2mo agoThere are plants with multiple stages of turbines. You really do need high pressure, high temperature steam to make appreciable energy though. What comes off the top of a cooling tower will keep you warm, but it's had 99% of its energy already extracted.